Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
While
listening to the senate hearing on the national government’s roundabout procurement
of the vaccine against COVID-19, one was wont to exclaim in exasperation, “Napakasimpleng bagay ginagawang kumplikado.” A simple
thing made so complicated.
Senators present
(virtually and physically) wondered in unison why the cash-challenged national
government would not allow the private sector and local governments units (LGUs)
to procure, on their own, vaccines for their constituents and sectors. Why
prevent them from taking load off the national government? Were the tripartite agreements that LGUs in
the National Capital Region had already signed for their vaccine orders from
pharmaceutical companies not acceptable?
Sen. Franklin
Drilon asked Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Eric Domingo, “Do you want
to play God?” To which the latter replied: “No, we just have to watch closely
the people we’ll be vaccinating.” Is that saying that the LGUs and private
sectors are not up to the task?
Getting the
vaccines to the end recipient is not a breeze. Consider the ordering process, shipping
from abroad, preservation of the vaccine below freezing point, transporting to
remote places, the whos, whens, hows and how much of the actual vaccination
process of millions of citizens. And the budget, of course, not only for the
purchase but for the entire operation that will last a couple of years perhaps,
even while another variant of the various is rearing its ugly head. (Another
vaccine for it?)
The Presidential Security Group was able to get away with contraband vaccines and administered these to themselves without explaining the where, when, how and what. Their leader only gave the why—to protect their Commander-in-Chief who promptly justified their illegal deed.
Yet those
trying to do their part with transparency for this ailing nation—what is there
to hide anyway—are prevented from doing their part.
“A vaccine
monopoly” is how the questioning senators call it. Everything has to be
centralized. Does this mean that the well-intentioned LGUs and private sectors
cannot and should now cancel their orders?
The cities
of Makati, Valenzuela, San Juan, Las Pinas, Taguig, Muntinlupa and Manila have
placed their orders with the UK pharma AstraZeneca even while the Food and Drug
Administration officials were concerned about inequitable distribution that
might favor wealthier local governments. This would be the case if the vaccines
would be in short supply. For now it looks like unahan lang, first come (with the cash), first served. But I would like
to hope that there will be enough for all, with the vulnerable and
underprivileged first in the queue.
The
explanations at the hearing—the EUA (emergency use authorization) conditions,
approval from the FDA, Big Pharma directly dealing only with national
governments—all seem surmountable, solvable.
Kinks that can be ironed out with the vaccine suppliers. In fact we have
yet to hear from the suppliers. What is it like from their end? It seems it is
our government that puts the obstacles where there should be none.
Vaccinations
are now going on in Singapore, our neighbor. What was their procurement and
payment process like? We might be able to learn a thing or two.
Small,
online surveys on people’s willingness to be vaccinated yielded mostly yes
responses, with “as long as” and “except” clauses added. That is, no to vaccines manufactured in China—where
the coronavirus is believed to have originated. One either thinks that the
Chinese would therefore be the ablest in finding a vaccine for something that
originated in their midst or one would think otherwise. Science detectives have
yet to determine how the coronavirus was spawned. Filipinos generally distrust
China because of its intrusion into Philippine territory and other notorieties.
No
“conform-or-COVID” threats, please. One should be allowed to pay, if one must,
for a preferred vaccine brand for oneself.
With
President Duterte continually showing unabashed amorousness for China despite
its hegemonic tendencies, one is not far off in suspecting that the vaccine
from China might get preferential treatment from the Duterte administration. Is Sinovac’s global roll-out out to steal the
thunder from other Big Pharmas? What
sweetheart deals might be employed?
More than
once has Mr. Duterte hailed with moist eyes the made-in-China vaccine. One can
bet that it would be Mr. Duterte’s preferred vaccine for himself, a token of
his allegiance.
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